Soul mates
by Not Just a Nerd
Summary: Justin and Alex's lives are turned upside down when their parents divorce. But what was the reason for the divorce? What secret is being kept from them? How will it affect their relation? JALEX. FLUFFY. 10 chapters. On-going story now.
1. Chapter 1: Now we fall apart

(A/n: okay, so this is the first jalex multi-chapter story I'm writing. This is very different from my usual style of writing, but I hope you guys like it. FLUFF ALERT. The first part in Italics is the present. The rest of the story will be in flashback in 3rd person's POV.

This story is dedicated to everyone who read/review/alert/favorite my other stories, especially Baku Babe, because she's really nice to me.)

Disclaimer: I don't own a show named WOWP where the lead female character and the lead male character are related. :P Keep it in mind.

*****

Chapter 1: Now we fall apart

*****

_Alex groaned as the alarm clock rang. "Justin. Shut it up." She mumbled sleepily. "Justin? JUSTIN!" _

_She finally opened her eyes to see Justin wasn't in the room._

_Great. So she had to wake up at 5 am and go searching for him!_

_And she still wondered WHY he set the alarm at 5. Will it kill him to let her sleep on Mondays?_

_She sighed and turned off the alarm. She noticed a piece of paper lying by her bedside. What the heck?_

_Great. The first thing she has to do after waking up is READ. Will it kill him to just send voicemails?_

"_Going out to get breakfast. Can't find my TOB shirt. What did you do to it?"_

_A small smile formed on Alex's lips. TOB Shirt. That shirt itself brought so many memories… That was the shirt he was wearing when……_

****

"I hate _this_!" Alex groaned and tugged at Justin's TOB shirt.

Normally, he would scream and scream and scream when Alex touched it, but that moment wasn't exactly the best time. _(And he knew she wasn't talking about the shirt that she was tugging at.)_

"I hate _it_ too." Justin sighed and tightened his hold on her waist.

"Why did they do _this_ to us?" Alex sobbed against his chest.

Justin sighed. "I don't know…." _(He knew all the other things though, like the fact that he was physically a little too close to his sister at that moment, or the fact that he chose to ignore the former fact.)  
_

"She's destroying my life… she's controlling every single second of it….. I can't take it anymore!" Alex yelled.

Justin rubbed her back soothingly and gently took hold of her chin. "Alex, you know mom loves you…."

"Then why did she get the divorce? Why did she take me away from dad? Why did she take me away from you?" Alex growled through her tears.

"Alex, we've been through this before…. ", Justin tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ears. "It's their life. It's their choice_." (And he knew the fact that they would have to go through this again.)_

"Then why can't they let me stay with you? Why do I have to go away with _them_ to France?" Alex questioned as she pulled away from Justin and sat up on her bed.

Justin sank down in her bed and buried his head in his hands. "Alex-"

"Justin-"Alex cut him off. "You have to talk to her again, please. For me?" Alex pleaded.

"Fine, I will." Justin gave in. "But first you need to get down and eat."

"Or what?" Alex challenged. "That French guy will kill me?"

"He's not really French, he lives in France." He corrected. _(Because he was Justin Russo, he had grown up correcting his sister.)_

"Whatever." Alex rolled her eyes. "Point is- I don't care what that French dude thinks."

"That French dude is our mother's boyfriend." Justin scolded.

"Which is why I hate him." Alex snapped back. Seriously, will it kill him to get her point?

"He isn't that bad…." Justin reasoned.

"How do you know? You don't have to live with him! You have your own apartment now." Alex yelled but paused when an idea hit her _(again)._ "Can't you let me stay with you?" She pleaded as she settled her head on Justin's chest, facing him.

"I can't... Mom won't allow you to stay with me…" Justin shed a tear in helplessness.

"I don't get it! Why can't I stay with you? I thought mom trusts you to take good care of me." Alex shook her head in frustration.

"We're growing up…." Justin simply stated.

"So?" Alex shoved his stomach with her elbow.

Justin yelped in pain before finally replying. "So? We can't stay together."

"You are not making any sense." Alex rolled her eyes and wiped her tears with her arm. _(And that was why she hated wearing mascara and eye-liners. Anybody have a tissue?) _

"What I'm trying to say is-"

Justin got cut off when Mr. Smith entered her room. _(And he was thankful he didn't have to explain this to his little sister.)_

"Alex, why aren't you at the dinner table yet?" Mr. Smith questioned and then he noticed the intimate position Justin and Alex were in."And what are you two doing?" he motioned towards them.

Justin suddenly felt uneasy and quickly pushed Alex off him_. (Not that he wasn't uncomfortable yet but….. okay, you get the point. And maybe he wasn't so thankful after all.)_

"What does it look like we're doing? We are talking, duh." Alex snapped back as she glared at Justin for his sudden movement and recollected herself.

"Young lady, don't talk to me like that." Mr. Smith warned.

"I talk to my dad like this." Alex replied digging her nails. _(At least her manicure wasn't ruined.)_

"Well, I'm not your father, am I?" Mr. Smith snapped.

"Well, you're trying to be. You act like you are my dad." Alex pointed out.

Justin bit his bottom lip in fear and anticipation. He could already smell a heated fight.

Mr. Smith simply ordered. "Get down for dinner, now."

"I'm not hungry." Alex declared, picking up a random fashion magazine from her desk to ignore facing him.

"In that case, you are grounded for two days." Mr. Smith declared as he left the room.

"What? You can't ground me! You're not my dad!" Alex yelled behind his back and then looked at Justin. "I can't live like this."

Justin sighed. This was going nowhere. "Wanna get some pizza?"

"Justin, I'm grounded." Alex reminded him as she threw the magazine in a far corner of the room in frustration. _(Seriously, did he zone out for the past few minutes, like she does when he talks about magnetic quantum number?)_

"Let me see what I can do about that." Justin smiled as he got up from the bed. "Come on, let's get downstairs."

*****

"Umm…Hello, Mr. Smith…" Justin greeted politely. _(What a Kiss up!)_

"Hello, Justin." He returned with a small smile.

"So, I was wondering if I could take Alex out for pizza…." Justin asked nervously, looking at the pictures in the wall in front of him.

"So, you are asking me whether you can _take your sister out_for pizza?_" _Mr. Smith asked in a sarcastic tone, very similar to Alex's.

Alex gave him a dirty look, ready for another round of battle. Justin pulled her back and replied calmly. "Yupe, I do need your permission. You're her guardian now."

"You know Alex, I really like your brother," Mr. Smith replied, looking at Alex. "He's intelligent, polite, well-behaved-"

"-Yeah, yeah, I get it." Alex cut him off with a huff. "Why don't you adopt him instead of me then?"

"Sure Justin, you can take her out." Mr. Smith smiled and went back to his dinner.

Phew!

*****

"You only have thirty-five dollars, right?" Alex asked Justin, keeping her gaze fixed on the other people at the restaurant.

"How on earth do you know that?" Justin widened his eyes in surprise.

Alex shrugged. "Just guessing…I don't have my powers anymore, remember? … Knowing you, that's how much you would have saved for yourself…" she scoffed.

Justin gave her a consoling look. Losing her powers over this divorce was probably the worst part. But he still didn't get it. If Max (living with their mother) still had his powers, why didn't Alex?

Justin quickly snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his sister. "I'm sorry about your powers…" He apologized.

Alex shrugged again. "I would have lost them to you anyway…… so, do you want to share the pizza or what?"

"Alex, I'm not really that hungry….." Justin protested.

"I know you haven't eaten anything since morning…." Alex glared at him. "Dad should really hire new waiters, now that I and Max don't work there anymore…."

"He won't…. it's too expensive… besides, new people can't be trusted." Justin argued.

"Whatever." Alex rolled her eyes as she handed him the first slice of the pizza. _(A pizza with pine-apple topping is waiting in front of them, and Justin is still arguing with her. Seriously?) _"I'm being generous towards you once in my life, don't ruin it."

Justin fought the urge to tease her about the use of a big word like 'generous' and smiled in gratitude. His little sister was growing up.

"I don't get it." Alex spoke while eating. "Why is angry dude always so nice to you?"

Justin skipped the 'don't talk with your mouth full' lecture _(because maybe the pizza would have ended up from her mouth to his TOB shirt)._ Instead, he replied with a smug look, "You heard what he said. I'm intelligent, polite, well-behaved-"

"-okay, I got it." Alex cut him off in irritation. "I just don't understand why he doesn't like me…" she looked down at the ground.

"You don't like him either…." Justin pointed out. "You should try being nice to him. Besides… he's not _always_ nice to me…. "

"Yeah, about that-"Alex straightened up and faced Justin, ready for another fight. "Why did you pull me back? Why didn't you let me defend you? He has no right to insult you like that!" she almost screamed.

_(Okay, so maybe he should have skipped his last sentence. Mc reary time reary? Nah. No magic without permission). _

"It wasn't an insult." Justin grabbed Alex's hand and squeezed it to reassure her. "Besides, I should have phrased that differently. It's my fault, really…."

Alex sighed. "I miss daddy."

Justin pulled her into a hug, and kissed her forehead softly.

"They were so happy together…." Alex whispered as she began to cry again… "Why did they get a divorce?"

"I wish I knew…" Justin whispered back, as Alex's words echoed in his head.

_**Why did they get a divorce?**_

A few minutes later, Alex stopped crying and finished eating the pizza.

"Come on. You need to get home now." Justin said as he offered her his hand.

Alex rolled her eyes and chose to use the corner of Justin's shirt to wipe her hands.

"ALEX!" Justin shrieked. Alex smiled.

_(Okay, so if his sister smiles when his favorite shirt is ruined, maybe it isn't such a bad thing?) _

(A/N: tada! That's the mystery. This chapter was just an introduction. Next chapters are better than this, trust me. I'm feeling fluffy XD. Mystery gets more intense as story proceeds. Review if you liked it. Tell me if you want me to continue. I've already written the full story in advance, I'll post as you review. More review=faster update.)


	2. Chapter 2: Goodbye sis, welcome mystery

(A/N: thanks to everyone who read! Thanks for all the review/alert/favorites. Enjoy! Read and review! Sorry for the late update, i wasn't home. Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed, but that was necessary, because I'm just craving to start the heavy jalex already LOL)

Disclaimer: don't own a thing.

*****

Chapter 2: goodbye sis, welcome mystery

"Come on, Alex." Justin tugged at her blanket. "Get up already. It's 8'o clock."

Alex groaned and rolled over. "It's Saturday, otherwise known as my sleeping day."

_Alex always looked so beautiful and innocent when she slept.._. Justin smiled sadly. "Mr. Smith wants you downstairs in thirty minutes."

Alex hid her face in her pillow. "Tell him Alex is dead."

"Alex! Don't talk like that!" Justin scolded. "He is actually right; it's not healthy to sleep like this. According to scientific research-"

Justin got cut off when Alex pulled him into her. "Justin, don't talk like a geek now. It's early morning. You're disturbing me." she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Justin smiled. "So that's how I'll have to wake you up? Fine. If the Cartesian co-ordinates of a point be (x,y) and it's polar co-ordinates be (r, theta)-"

Alex groaned against his chest. "Justin, stop it."

Justin ignored her and continued. "-then r is equal to root of x-square plus y-square and tan theta is equal to y divided by x. Sine theta is eq-"

Alex placed her hand on his lips and cut him off. "Shhh…. Quiet now…"

Justin kissed her fingertips lightly and ruffled her hair. "Come on Alex, get up. Please?"

Alex sighed. "Fine." She finally got off bed and tried to head downstairs.

"Alex!" Justin yelled in surprise.

"What?" Alex asked, irritated. _(Seriously, does he need to annoy her from early in the morning?)_

Justin motioned at the tooth-brush. Oh right. Brush your teeth. _Will it kill him to let her annoy Adam Smith with her morning bad breath?_

When she was finally ready, Justin took a hold of her suitcase. "What the heck?" she questioned, resting her hands on her hips.

"Today's Saturday." Justin stated, looking at the ground, suddenly feeling guilty. "You leave today."

Alex was silent for a few minutes. "Oh." She finally muttered.

"Alex I'm so sorry I-"

"Keep trying Justin. Don't give up yet."

*****

Alex got downstairs with Justin within the specified time. Mr. Smith smiled. "Impressive work, Justin. You really know how to deal with Alex."

"-Which is why you need to let me stay with him." Alex faked a sweet smile.

"Nice try, Alex." Mr. Smith faked a smile too.

"No, seriously, Mr. Smith, mom…. Umm… can't you guys let Alex stay with me? Please?" Justin pleaded nervously.

"Not until she's an adult and moves out." Mr. Smith replied with a tone of finality. "Justin, I think you're mature enough to understand why she can't stay with you."

Justin only nodded as he thought of a hundred not-so-brotherly reasons and heat rose in his cheeks.

"You're so mean!" Alex exclaimed.

"He's not mean Alex, he's just strict." Theresa defended. "It's just the kind of discipline that you need."

Alex took shelter in Justin's arms. "See, Justin, no one understands me here…" she sobbed.

Justin sighed. "It's gonna be okay after a while… believe me."

Alex hugged him even more tightly and pleaded into his eyes. "Please don't push me away from you. I will never ever bother you again I promise. I won't even tease and taunt you. Please let me stay with you. Please." _(Okay, so maybe the promise wasn't entire true, but who's recording her words?)_

"I'm sorry Alex." Justin allowed a single tear to flow through his left eye. "I can't help you…..I wish I could…. But I can't….." he sighed in defeat.

Alex pulled away after a few minutes and wiped her tears. "Where's Max?"

"He went to see a friend. He'll be here any minute." Theresa replied.

Alex nodded and looked back at Justin.

"Stay out of trouble." Justin advised. _(But he knew otherwise.)_

Alex nodded. _(And she knew better.) _

"Take care of Max… don't let him get into trouble." _(And he knew that was just as impossible.) _

Alex nodded again. _(Because she's totally listening to him and not paying attention to how great he looked with wet messy hair.. he did always shower early in the morning, but who's waking her up then?)_

"Call me whenever you need me." Justin finally completed.

Alex ran into his arms again.

Both cried in that final moment of farewell. No 'I miss you' was necessary. They both knew that _(and none wanted to admit that and subscribe to a lifetime of teasing)._

And after one more hour, Alex was gone.

And he knew she wasn't coming back.

*****

Alex kept crying all the way in her flight. She was depressed. She wasn't even allowed to visit her father once before they left. This was just so frustrating!

The plane finally landed. The cab right '_home_' was silent. Finally, they reached their destination.

Alex hated to admit it, but she actually liked the house. It was big. Her room was in a corner, with no one to disturb her. It was big enough for her to set up her painting equipments. It wasn't so bad…..

She sighed and wiped the last of her tears. She grabbed her suitcase and started unpacking. Everything was neatly packed- Justin packed it for her.

Alex sighed against her bed as fresh tears started falling from her eyes. What was she going to do without him? She never knew he was indispensable for her… freaky.

Alex opened her things and found a letter. She quickly grabbed it and tore it open.

"Hey Alex….

It's me… you do my handwriting right?... and you're going to read this, right?.. Okay, I'll stop being a dork now…"

Alex smiled to herself as she read the beginning of the long letter. Dork.

"I never told you what you mean to me, how important you are to me…. but today, I'm going to say everything….. Alex, you're the best gift god gave me…. you're the best sister, and the best friend I ever had…. I know I always try to establish my superiority over you, but that's just family hate…. _I love you_…._Love you a lot_… always… Remember when we were kids, you picked up a random stone from the park and gave it to me. I promised you I'll always keep it with me….It's my most prized possession in this world…. I'm giving it to you now… keep it as our memory…. Love you… always.

Justin."

Alex began to cry as she finished reading the letter. Life was being so unfair to her! Why did this happen?

*****

Justin headed back to the shop, feeling very sad and lonely. He had decided to stay with his father for the day.

Jerry patted his shoulder comfortingly. "I miss her too…." He consoled.

"I'm scared…." Justin whispered. "What if she can't adjust? What if something goes wrong? What if-"

"Justin!" jerry cut him off. "Stop worrying. I'm sure Alex will be fine. Her mom is with her. She'll take good care of her."

Justin froze for a moment. His dad was talking nice things about his mom after the divorce? _**Something was definitely wrong.**_

He shook his head to dismiss the thoughts and got up. "I…I'm just gonna go upstairs…"

Justin ran up into their old storage home. He picked up their broken toys. He found Alex's teddy bear, which max had accidentally torn up. He clutched it tightly and sobbed again. It still smelt like her... strawberry, vanilla, a bit like chocolate...

He found her old drawing books. He ran his fingers over her childish drawings as tears flowed from his eyes again. There was a painting consisting of two stick figures, and he knew it was them.

He found his own notebooks as well. Justin smiled, as he noticed the letters and numbers in his childish handwriting. Alex was right (_not that he'd tell her_), he had always been a geek.

Suddenly, something caught his eyes. Something was popping out from one of his notebooks. He quickly took hold of it, and noticed it was an old photograph of some lady that he failed to recognize. The lady was holding a toddler in her arms. Both of them had black hair and blue eyes. Justin quickly flipped the photo and noticed a scribbling in neat handwriting.

"_Justin. 8 months."_

Justin blinked a few times. It was his photo, but he had never seen this one before. And _**who was that lady? **_

Justin silently put the photo in his pocket and went to his room. He could worry about this later. At that moment, there was one person who needed him most- Alex.

(A/N: Yupe, that lady is a part of the mystery. I'm sure all of you can speculate who she is. But the complete truth will blow your minds. LOL. Review. More reviews=faster update. I plan on uploading this weekly at the current rate of reviews and hits.)

(Quick look at the next chapter: Alex will find another half of the mystery. Surprise jalex moments with a bit of magic.)


	3. Chapter 3: The locked room

(A/N: **thanks to everyone who read! Thanks for all the 13 reviews/10 alerts/6 favorites**. I don't know if I said this before, but there are 2 things to remember- 1. Alex's step-dad's name will be Adam. 2. Harper does not feature in this story. **Enjoy! Read and review**!)

Disclaimer: don't own a thing.

*****

Chapter 3: The locked room

Justin fidgeted in the chair of the magic lair, trying to figure out why Alex lost her powers. After going through two books and coming up with nothing, he finally gave up for the time being. He rubbed his temples with his hands and cried as he thought about Alex. She was all alone (_okay, so maybe their mom and their brother were there too, whatever_), in a far part of the world (_okay, so maybe it wasn't __that __far, but who's measuring_?). She didn't even know the language, and she wasn't happy either. Could things get any worse? Justin sighed as he pictured Alex's painful image when she left. Finally, he decided to call her up and check on how she was doing.

He ran a hand through his hair nervously as the phone rang. Finally, Alex answered it.

"Alex?" Justin whispered, unsure of who was on the other side of the phone _(because saying random things to Mr. Smith is probably not the best idea.) _

"Justin!" Alex screamed at the phone, relieved to hear the sound of his voice again.

"Umm…you okay?" he asked, unsure of why she seemed so overwhelmed.

"Yeah….sure…" Alex replied, trying to sound like she was fine and everything was perfect. (_There's no need to make Justin worried about her! Isn't he suffering enough already_?)

"Like the new place?" Justin's heart beat increased as he feared the worst.

"Yeah." Alex said while trying to suppress a sob (_Justin heard it though_).

"And the new house?" he questioned again, as his heart ached at the sound of her sobs.

"Yupe." Alex replied calmly.

Justin sighed when he sensed the sincerity in her voice. Okay, that was a good start. Maybe she'll soon get over the grief of losing her friends and family.

"I found your letter." Alex announced suddenly, breaking the lingering silence between them.

"Oh…" Justin stuttered. "Did you read it?" He gulped, ready for her outburst.

"Yupe." Alex replied, still trying to act strong and Alex-like.

"And?" Justin pushed, knowing she was holding back her emotions. She always tried too hard to show she was strong and too-cool-to-care. 

"Justin!" Alex finally burst into tears. "Take me back to you, please."

"Alex-" He tried to console, because he had so not intended to make her cry. He was expecting more shouting and hate words against their mother.

"I miss you!"

"Alex-"

"Please, Justin!"

Justin sighed again. "Are you alone in your room now?" (_And he totally didn't have any not-so-right thoughts in his head for a split second_.)

"Yeah." Alex replied, feeling a bit confused. (_What does __**that**__ have anything to do with __**this**_?)

"Close the door." Justin ordered.

"Okay…" Alex shrugged. "Done."

In two minutes, Justin landed in the room, IPP in his hand.

Oh. Okay.

"Justin!" Alex yelled as she ran into his arms.

"Shhh. You'll alert the others I'm here." He warned as he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and wrapped his arms around her waist. _(And he totally didn't notice how hot she looked in that low cut top, skirt and leggings.)_

"Justin!" Alex wrapped her hands around his neck and sobbed. "I miss you."

Justin closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her strawberry shampoo. "I miss you too."

Alex pulled him even closer into her. "Take me home, please, take me back with you."

Justin sighed. "I can't…."

Alex groaned through her tears. (_Will it kill him to break the rules for her once_?)

"But I'll call you everyday. Promise." Justin whispered against her ear.

Alex shuddered as his breath tickled her ear. "That's not good enough." 

"Then what is?" he asked as he looked into her eyes sincerely.

"Come here every day." Alex demanded.

"Alex I-"

"Promise?"

Justin sighed again, finally giving in. _(What's the use of reasoning with Alex, anyway? She always gets what she wants)._ "Fine. Promise…. But keep it a secret, 'kay?"

Alex nodded as they finally pulled apart.

"I.. I gotta go now…" Justin announced, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy.

Alex's heart broke again. _(Will it kill him to hold her a bit longer?)_ "Okay", she replied half-heartedly. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah…sure…" Justin smiled as he turned on the IPP again.

****

A few days passed. The crying subsided. (_Hey, Justin visited her every day! That was good_. _Okay, __good enough_. _For now_.)

*****

One day, Alex was bored after Justin was gone She had nothing else to do because she found dating hot French guys impossible without learning a single word of French. So, she decided to explore the new house.

Downstairs were the kitchen, the drawing room and the grand dining hall, with paintings hanging in the wall. "Wow, that guy must be pretty rich." Alex muttered to herself, as he admired his choice of art. Adam was so much like her in terms of these things.

In the first floor were Mr. Smith's bedroom, office and library. In the second floor was Alex and Max's bedroom and study hall. And the third floor was the terrace.

_**There was a single room in the terrace. The door was locked- two locks hung in it.**___That caught Alex's attention.

She noticed that the doors and the windows looked quite old. She tried peeping in through a crack in the door _(not that she was nosy, just curious. Yupe_). All she could see was darkness, and more darkness. This was the first time she regretted not having her magic (_okay, there were other times, but they didn't matter as long as Justin was there by her side._)

Alex stopped in her tracks as she got an idea. Maybe, she can talk Justin into opening the door. Not that he would agree willingly, but she can always think of a plan.

"What are you doing here?" Mr. Smith yelled.

Alex jumped back in surprise. "Gosh, you scared me!"

Mr. Smith ignored her comment. "What are you doing near that door?" he yelled. "Don't ever go there again." He warned in a threatening voice.

"Why not?" Alex challenged.

Mr. Smith glared at her for a good ten seconds. Then he took a deep breath and regained his composure. Finally he faked a smile. "If you don't look at that door, I'll let you talk to Jerry once a week."

"Deal." Alex replied without even thinking. (_Hey, she needed to talk to her dad more than anything else._)

But if Mr. Smith decided to let her talk to her dad because of that door….

_**Something was definitely wrong with the room.**_

****

"Justin. I need your help." Alex blurted out as soon as he answered her call.

"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down. You got into trouble already?" Justin teased.

Alex glared at Justin's photo in her dressing table. "No. not that… I need your help with something else…"

"Okaaaay." Justin replied slowly. "Go on…"

"What can you tell me about the Smith mansion?" Alex questioned.

"The smith mansion." Justin paused for a moment, thinking. "You mean the house you live in?"

"Duh." Alex rolled her eyes. (_Seriously, will it kill him to stop being a dork?)_

"Why? What happened? Everything all right?" Justin asked, concerned. (_There you go. Over-protective big brother mode. Right.)_

"Yeah, everything's fine." Alex reassured. "It's just that…." She described the incident regarding the locked room.

"Maybe they have some important family stuff in there." Justin shrugged as he slumped back in his bed.

"Maybe not." Alex snapped. "Just find out what you can… okay?"

"Okay, okay." Justin replied _(there's no need to shout at him!)_ . "I miss you." He added.

Alex smiled. "Ew, that's cheesy."

"Come on, Alex. Say the five words." Justin pleaded.

"Okay, here are four words-call you later!" Alex teased.

"That's three words." Justin corrected automatically. "And you know what I mean. Please."

"Fine." Alex finally gave in. "I miss you too, Justin."

Justin smiled, finally feeling content.

*****

"The smith mansion was built by Robert Smith, father of Adam Smith. Adam Smith has been living there since he was eight. He moved to New York at the age of twenty. He studied in NYU and returned to France at the age of twenty-five. He never married. He's been living alone in that mansion ever since…. Well, until you guys moved in there." Justin finished lecturing Alex.

Alex let out a yawn. "Well, that didn't say much about the room, did it, Justin?"

Justin protested. "How am I supposed to find out about the room?"

"I don't know. You act like you know everything." Alex scoffed.

"Everything that I need to know." Justin snapped.

"That's everything I don't need to know, Mr. Encyclopedia." Alex snapped back.

"You know the word encyclopedia?" Justin teased. He could almost feel Alex's threatening glare through the phone, but when he didn't get a witty comeback like he was expecting, he sighed. "Why are you so interested in that room anyway?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know… it's the only room in the house that's locked…. And by the look on Adam's face… he's hiding something…."

"Maybe." Justin replied in his over-protective big brother voice again. "But you don't need to research on that. You might get into more trouble with him."

"Okay." Alex replied a little too quickly.

"Alex," Justin warned _(why did he know her too well again?),_ "if he doesn't want you to know something, then it's better that you don't find out..."

"Fine." Alex yelled angrily. "I'm feeling sleepy now. It's 3 a.m. already. Good night Justin."

Justin sighed. "Good night Alex… miss you…."

"Gosh! You don't have to saw that hundred times a day!" Alex sounded irritated (_though she was totally beaming after hearing that_). "Yeah whatever, miss you too, bye."

****

Alex turned off her light and was about to fall asleep, when she suddenly heard foot-steps going up the stairs. Alex squeezed her eyes shut and pretended to be asleep. Her door opened noiselessly _(maybe it's better to have a jammed door that makes a cracking sound_), someone came in, and then went out. By the shadowy figure of the person she sensed when she opened her eyes for a second; she concluded it was Adam Smith, checking on if she was asleep. _(But walking into her room while she's sleeping…. Creepy.)_

Just then, she heard footsteps going further up the stairs to the terrace. Her breathing became more ragged as it suddenly hit her- Adam was going to that locked room in the middle of the night!

Alex waited in anticipation as sweat started forming in her forehead _(EW, gross_). Finally, she heard foot-steps descend down the stairs to the first floor. She got up from her bed after a few moments of silence and finally sighed in relief.

Alex tiptoed out of her room and quietly headed up the stairs. She shivered because of the cold wind and the thrill of adventure. But she noticed nothing unusual. The locks looked the same, the room wasn't even opened, Adam probably didn't even have the key. She shrugged and turned to head down the stairs. Suddenly something caught her eye- a photograph!

She quickly ran down there and picked it up. It was an old photograph of a young lady, with a crying baby in her arms. Both had black hair and blue eyes. Something was familiar about the child… Alex flipped over the photo and gasped at the scribbling.

"_Justin. 3 months."  
_

(A/N: Yupe, mystery continues. Hope you like it. **Review for faster update**.)

(Quick look at next chapter: Justin finds more things in his storage room. They tell each other about the photographs they found. They grow closer. Alex also starts getting along with Adam and following some of his rules, like maintaining routine.)

(BTW if you are interested in more Jalex,

1. I'd be posting a new one-shot when I post the next chapter.

2. Please vote on the poll in my profile and tell me which story you want next.)


	4. Chapter 4: The letters

(A/N: thanks to everyone who read! Thanks for all the 17 reviews/12 alerts/7 favorites. Enjoy! Read and review!)

Disclaimer: don't own a thing.

*****

**Chapter 4: Letters**

"Justin! We need to talk!" Alex whispered as soon as he answered her call.

Justin groaned. "Now? It's 4 a.m. We talked an hour ago."

"Justin!" Alex hissed. "This is important."

"Fine!" Justin snapped back as he sat up. "What is it Alex?"

Alex described the whole incident, and Justin's eyes widened.

"What is he doing with your photo?" Alex asked, still looking at his photo in her dressing table and comparing it with the photo in her hand that she found a few minutes back.

"I don't know…" Justin replied, feeling totally confused. "Maybe mom took it with her?"

Alex shook her head. "No. She took the family portraits. And even if she did, she wouldn't give it to Adam, and he wouldn't try to lock it away in that room."

He sighed, she did have a point.

"I'm scared, Justin… are you okay?" she asked as clutched her pillow tightly, suddenly feeling insecure.

"Alex, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Justin reassured, smiling to himself to see that she cared about him so much. "You stay out of trouble, okay? Don't tell anyone about the photo yet… I'll get it from you tomorrow morning. We both need some rest now."

"Okay." Alex sighed. "And Justin…"

"Yeah?"

"I miss you…" she admitted, suddenly feeling the need to see him in front of her eyes to know that he was all right.

Justin sighed but smiled. "I miss you too. And I'm fine Alex, don't worry." He reassured again. "Goodnight."

"Night." She whispered as she hung up the phone.

They both soon fell asleep, both being exhausted. And Alex was haunted by dreadful nightmares.

_There was a masked guy with a cane and a snake, chasing her through the Caribbean beach. An UFO with some alien was looking for Justin…. And then there were Justin and Alex, holding hands, running away….._

She woke up in her bed, huffing and panting as she noticed Justin already sitting by her bedside.

"Justin!" she jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly, not caring even if someone noticed them at that moment.

Justin smiled and hugged her back. "Nightmare?" he asked softly in her ears. (_How could he know her so well?)_

She nodded and pulled him more into her.

****

"So you found this in our storage room?" Alex questioned, looking at the photo that Justin had found earlier.

"Yupe." Justin replied, looking at the photo Alex found the previous night.

"Maybe there are more in there?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

Justin shrugged. "Maybe. I'll go look."

"And what about the locked room?" Alex's eyes twinkled in excitement. "Maybe we can look there too."

"Alex," Justin warned. "I'm not using magic."

"Fine." Alex gave up without a fight. (_Note to self: need new blackmail material.)_

"I'll go see what I can find out." Justin got up from her bed.

"What? No!" Alex protested as she pushed him back and laid down beside him. "You _just_ came here. You can't leave now!"

Justin smiled and pulled her into a hug. "Miss me?"

"Duh." Alex rolled her eyes. _(Seriously, does she have to say it all the time?)_

Alex relaxed in his arms and finally felt safe.

"I'm fine." Justin reassured again.

"I know." She nodded.

Suddenly her alarm clock ticked.

"Shoot. It's 8 a.m. Adam can be here now…" Alex panicked. "You need to get out of here fast."

"Okay." Justin got up quickly and grabbed his IPP. "By the way, you have an alarm?" he widened his eyes in fake surprise.

Alex shot him a glare. (_Seriously, is this the proper time for teasing her_?). "Not now. Get out of here now!" she ordered as she handed him the two photographs.

Justin was gone just in time before Theresa entered the room.

Phew!

*****

**Two days later**

Justin entered the family's old storage room again. He searched through the drawers and boxes. Nothing. Nothing at all.

He groaned in frustration and sat down on a broken chair.

"Ouch!" Justin yelped in pain as something sharp hit his rear. He got up to notice a pin sticking out of the cushion. He glared at it, before attempting to pick it out of the cushion. But when he pulled at the pin, the cushion tore, and letters poured out of it. Justin's eyes widened. What the heck?

"_Hi Theresa. I just received your letter…. Congratulations about the baby girl! Don't worry about it, everything will be fine. I was nervous at first too, but everything will be fine…. We are doing well. Everything is great here. Come visit us as soon as the baby is born. We're excited to see her. Love. Jane." _

Justin finished reading the first letter and smiled. It must have been from one of his mom's friends. She must have written to her when Alex was conceived.

Justin opened the second letter and read it.

"_Hi Theresa… sorry it took me so long to reply to your letter…. Things haven't been too well in here… I'm having some health __troubles__… but don't worry about me…. Alexandra.. That's a beautiful name… I can't wait to see the baby! Please come here soon! Love. Jane."_

Justin smiled again. Alexandra… it really was a beautiful name….

Justin paused, as he suddenly realized what he was thinking about his sister. What the heck?

He shook his head and opened the next letter.

"_Hi Theresa. I received your letter yesterday. Yes, please come here next week. We are waiting anxiously for you. Love. Jane." _

Justin opened another letter from the pile.

"_Hi Theresa. It was so lovely to have you in here… we miss you already…. Justin and Alex got along really well… that's a good news, isn't it? Love, Jane."_

Justin smiled to himself again. So he and his sister did get along well when they were younger.

He opened another letter.

"_Dear Theresa… I have sad tidings for you…. Doctors have confirmed that my fears are true…. I do not have much time…. I just want you to promise me something; please take care of my little child when I am gone, please? Love. Jane."_

Justin was confused and curious. What sad tidings?

He proceeded to read the next and last letter when suddenly his phone rang.

He smile automatically formed on his lips as he saw the all two familiar number and answered it quickly. "Yes, Alex?"

"Gosh. What took you so long to answer the phone?" Alex snapped.

"I answered it in 5 seconds." Justin pointed out, grinning to himself. "I'm fine."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Are you coming here yet?"

"Hmmm?" Justin was confused.

"Newsflash- my school began today." Alex reminded him. "I need help with my homework and my French. Remember?"

Justin cursed himself mentally. He'd totally forgotten that! "I'd be there in a minute." He said as he hung up.

He carefully placed the letters back in the cushion and grabbed the IPP from the lair.

****

"(Jeune) fille _feminine" _Justin read from the book. "That's French for girl." He announced.

Alex looked up at him in surprise. "Where did you learn French?"

"I read books, remember?" Justin pointed out.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Dork."

Homework was done in an hour, and Alex was too glad it was over.

"Any luck with the photos?" she finally brought up the topic that had been haunting her mind, as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Nope." Justin replied as he put an arm around her shoulder. "But I found some old letters, from mom's old friend."

Alex snorted. "As if that'd help solve the mystery." She snapped as she ran her fingers over his shirt and his chest.

Justin relaxed under her touch and started drawing circular patterns on the exposed skin in her back. They finally broke out of their trance when the alarm rang again.

Alex groaned as she pulled away from him reluctantly. "Dinner time." She announced.

Justin nodded, getting up and grabbing the IPP. "See you later." He smiled as he turned it on.

****

"Alex, there you are!" Adam exclaimed as Alex got down the stairs.

"Sorry I'm late. I was doing homework." Alex apologized.

"Awww… aren't you becoming a good girl?" Adam smiled, unaware of the fact that someone (Justin) was helping her with it. "I'm really proud of you Alex."

Alex smiled back…"thanks… Adam"

Theresa relaxed, seeing how things had slowly gotten better between the two. Life was going to be all right again.

(A/N: Mystery continues. More jalex in next chapter, I promise. Review for faster update!)

(Quick look at next chapter: it'll be a surprise. It's Jalex fluff.)

(IMPORTANT:_** I need you to vote on my profile and tell me which Jalex story I should do first. and BTW, I posted the Jalex one-shot I was talking about. It's called "life again", and it's of the same quality as my other one-shots, and definitely better than this story. LOL.)**_


	5. Ch 5: Closer to mystery, & to each other

(A/N: thanks to everyone who read! Thanks for all the 25 reviews/14 alerts/10 favorites. Enjoy! Read and review! ALERT: FLUFF AHEAD. More jalex, as I promised. But Justin may seem a little OOC; I've tried my best to work on that. AUTHOR'S NOTES AT THE BOTTOM.)

Disclaimer: don't own a thing.

*****

Chapter 5: Closer to the mystery, and to each other

"Why are we here again?" Alex questioned as she walked with Justin, holding his hand (_because she was afraid she'd get lost in the unknown streets, not that she liked holding his hand, ew_).

"You'll see." Justin smiled as he led her into a restaurant.

Alex chuckled. "Dinner? Here?"

Justin shrugged. "I thought you'd like the place."

"I do." Alex assured. "But dude, which guy would spend so much money on his sister?"

Justin gulped.

"Justin?" Alex asked, suddenly unsure. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Justin smiled. "Come on, order something!"

*****

"That was so much fun!" Alex exclaimed, panting, as they stopped in a deserted corner of an empty street.

"Really? Poking people with straw while they are eating is fun? How can you be so selfish, apathetic and reckless all the time? " Justin scolded as he huffed. "We've been running for 30 minutes now."

"Hey, it's not my fault that you don't work out!" Alex blamed him.

"I do work out!" Justin protested. "I have toned abs and muscles."

"Yeah, right." Alex snickered.

"You don't believe me?" Justin questioned.

"No." Alex snapped. "How can a geek working at a sandwich shop as a waiter work out?"

"Fine, I'll show you." Justin snapped back.

"What do you-"

Before Alex could even complete her sentence, Justin tossed up his shirt and exposed his chest.

Alex licked her lips instinctively. He was right… his muscles were well-developed.

"What?" Justin smirked, seeing her staring.

"Dork." Alex shoved his chest with her hands, gently touching it in the process.

Justin chuckled. "Believe me now?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

Justin chuckled again as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him. "Maybe you should start believing me a bit from now on."

"Not gonna happen." Alex stuck out her tongue as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Too bad." Justin faked a hurt look as he kissed the bridge of her nose. "For a devious demon, you look so innocent when you smile like that."

Alex snorted. "Was that an insult or a compliment?"

Justin grinned. "What do you think?"

"You're so lame that people can't even make out what you're saying." Alex scoffed. "Why don't you-"

They jumped apart when Alex's alarm rang again. Alex groaned.

"I need to be home in about 15 minutes now." She announced.

"Okay" Justin smiled, noticing that she called the smith mansion her 'home'. "I'll drop you there with my IPP."

Alex nodded, grabbing the helmet Justin handed her.

****

Justin returned back to his dad's apartment, still smiling. He had taken his shift off for the evening…This was such a fine night. Everything was so perfect….

Suddenly, he remembered something he had forgotten for the last few days. The letters!

Justin quickly ran back into the storage room and picked up the cushion but-

The letters were gone!

What the heck!

Someone must have removed them.

But who?

His dad?

Nope. He never really cared about this room…

Who removed them?

This mystery was getting weirder day by day.

****

"Alex, I told you about those letters remember?" Justin asked as he slumped down on her bed beside her and tossed his shirt aside. _(Because it was hot, okay? And according to scientific research, it is not healthy to sweat.)_

"Yupe. What about them?" Alex questioned non-chalantly, as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her right leg around his waist.

"They are gone." Justin replied as he caressed her silky curls. "Someone has removed them…"

Alex tilted her head looked up at him in surprise. "Who?"

Justin shrugged. "I don't know…. But don't worry…. I'll try to figure it out…"

"Justin, I'm scared." Alex admitted as she buried her face in his bare chest.

Justin rubbed the small of her back soothingly. "I'm fine Alex. Don't worry." He reassured.

Alex sighed heavily. "Please stay with me tonight." She pleaded.

Justin pulled her back and searched into her eyes for a moment. There was strawberry and vectors and chocolate and alkenes going through his brain, and nothing made sense. "Okay." He gave in.

Alex smiled as she placed a small kiss on his cheek. Justin blushed…"ummm…thanks…"

"Dork." Alex rolled her eyes playfully and grinned.

After about an hour of talking, she finally fell asleep. Justin looked at her sleeping form and smiled. Something about her had been captivating him recently. He would catch himself thinking about his sister most of the time. He wondered why this was happening. Perhaps, this divorce made him realize how much he needed her… the only thing he couldn't understand was why they were keeping this secret from their parents. Alex was his sister, he could easily visit her anytime he wanted, and they did not need to hide and lie….. Justin sighed, unable to understand what was going on in his mind. He rested his head on hers and kissed her hair softly.

*****

_**Two months later**_

"Alex, your report card came out today." Adam announced.

Alex gulped nervously.

Adam smiled. "You got all Cs. That's an improvement. Try harder, and before you know it you'll get an A."

Wow. No scolding! Alex smiled to herself. Being polite to him was really paying off. Maybe Justin was right.

Justin….

Alex blushed at his thought. She had gotten used to sleeping in his arms for about two months. And it felt surprisingly good.

"So… Christmas break's coming…" Adam began.

Alex nodded, as Max exclaimed in excitement, something about taking a reindeer for a pet or something else that was weird.

"I was wondering… if you want your brother to visit you for Christmas?" Adam asked Max and Alex.

"Justin's coming here for Christmas? Awesome! Now I can teach him how to eat with his feet!" Max yelled. He had gotten along really well with Adam from the beginning.

"Ew." Alex scrunched up her nose at the idea.

"What do you think Alex?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, whatever." Alex shrugged, but smiled.

Justin had formal permission to stay with her. Awesome.

*****

Alex was sleeping peacefully that night, having sweet dreams. Suddenly, she woke up when she heard a noise of someone speaking.

"_No…you don't understand…."_ It was Adam's voice, coming from the stairs. He was speaking on the phone at midnight!

"Justin!" Alex whispered as she tried to wake him up.

Justin groaned and tightened his hold on her.

Alex carefully disentangled their limbs and got up from the bed. She pressed her ears to the door and listened intently. And she regretted not having magic for the second time in her life. This is the time when she needed the bats' ear spell!

"_No… you need to keep those letters with you…. No! Don't send them here! He might find them!... no….. Just keep it with you for some more days… I'll pay you well… don't worry…. Okay.. I'll call you tomorrow…"_

Alex quickly went back to bed. Adam was walking towards her room! And Justin was asleep in her bed! Oh god! She can say goodbye to Christmas fun now. Heck, she'd be lucky is she isn't grounded.

"Justin!" Alex panicked. "Justin, get up! Adam is coming!"

"Umm? What?" Justin asked sleepily.

"Justin!" Alex hissed. "Adam is coming! Get up! Get out of here!"

Justin quickly sat up on the bed and panicked. "What! Oh no!"

Before any of them could move, the doorknob turned open.

They froze in fear.

"It's so dark in here…." Adam muttered to himself…"I can't see a thing…" he cursed. "This crazy little girl…. Sleeping in this dark room… she might get hurt some day…. I've gotta get her a night lamp…." He smiled, before closing the door and walking away.

Justin and Alex relaxed after a few moments. Adam failed to see them because of the dark. Phew!

"That was close." Alex whispered.

"Yeah.." Justin agreed. "This is getting a bit risky… maybe I should stop sleeping here…"

Alex looked at him like he was crazy. "No way." She glared at him, before pulling him back into the bed with her.

"Alex… this isn't normal…." Justin protested.

"We are not normal people, remember?" Alex mimicked him.

Justin sighed, giving in. Alex smiled in victory.

*****

"So that means Adam paid someone to remove the letters." Justin concluded as Alex narrated the incident of the previous night.

"Duh." Alex rolled her eyes while applying her peach lip-gloss.

"This mystery is getting crazier." Justin murmured.

"Yeah." Alex agreed. "Maybe we should try the locked room now?" she proposed again.

Justin sighed. "Yeah… I guess we have to…. But let's wait till Christmas… let me get here first."

"Okay." Alex smiled as she suddenly became happy. Two more days and Justin was coming over to stay with them. Yay!

(A/N: I hope you liked the fluff. I hope these developments didn't seem forced, and I also hope that the mystery is blending in properly with the romance. Please review! Next chapter will be pure jalex. Be on the look-out for it. And I'm sorry I'm bringing in Christmas in March lol, but I couldn't resist. Christmas is my fav holiday. :D)

(Quick look at the next chapter: Justin comes to live with the Smiths during Christmas. Jalex kiss! I think you know where I'm going with this LOL….)

_**(A/N: I've posted the first chapter of 'the beginning'. Please let me know if you like it and want me to continue. BTW, I've already finished the angst chapter-fic I was talking about, and I'm halfway through the adoption fic. This one is another one LOL.)**_


	6. Chapter 6: Our lips meet

(A/N: thanks to everyone who read! Thanks for all the 30 reviews/18 alerts/11 favorites. Enjoy! Read and review! I'm writing a Christmas chapter in March! Now, you know I'm totally crazy :P Author's notes at the bottom.)

Disclaimer: don't own a thing.

*****

Chapter 6: Our lips meet

Justin stood in front of the Smith Mansion and smiled as he rang the door bell. Theresa rushed to the door at once. "Oh, my poor baby!" she opened the door and attacked Justin with a big hug, "you have grow up so much!"

Justin smiled as he returned the hug. "I missed you mom."

He then broke away from his mother and smiled at Adam. "Hey, Mr. Smith."

"Hello Justin. It's good to see you here." They shook hands.

Alex noticed a look of pain in Justin's eyes as they shook hands. But she ignored it for the moment.

Justin then high-fived Max and gave him a long brotherly hug.

Finally he turned to Alex, with a grin in his face.

"Why are you late?" Alex demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I… I couldn't get the directions, right?" Justin tried.

Theresa and Adam believed him, but Alex wasn't buying that. He'd been in that house to drop Alex before (using his IPP)!

"So, you like this place?" Adam asked.

"Yes, Mr. Smith" Justin smiled. "You have a lovely house."

"Please, call me Adam." Adam offered him a genuine smile.

"Yeah, whatever. Dad, you two can talk later. I'll take Justin to his room now." Alex announced taking Justin's hand and leading him upstairs.

Justin smiled at the word 'dad'. Finally his sister was getting along with her step-dad.

Alex opened the door to the room next to hers and pushed Justin in. She locked the door behind her and looked straight into his eyes. "Why are you late, Justin? Tell me the truth."

Justin sighed and ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I… someone attacked me…"

"WHAT!?!"' Alex panicked. "Where? Why does someone want to kill you?"

"Calm down Alex." Justin soothed her as he placed an arm on her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm fine… no one wants to kill me... Some guy was just trying to take away the one letter I found in our old storage room…"

Alex's eyes widened in surprise. "WHAT?! What letter?"

Justin put a hand into his pocket, took out a piece of paper and handed it to Alex.

Alex read the letter out aloud.

"_Dear Theresa, I'm thrilled by your proposal. I'd love to have Alex as my daughter-in-law. I already consulted a fortune-teller about them. He thinks they are __**soul mates**__. I'd agree. The way they look at each other from now on… and she's just three months… I'm sure everything will work out and they'll get married when they grow up. Love. Jane."_

Alex stood there for a minute, trying to comprehend what that letter said.

"Mom fixed your marriage with someone when you were young." Justin said to break her out of her trance. "And that's probably what they have been hiding from us." he finished.

"Oh." Alex mumbled. "So, they don't want me to marry this guy?"

Justin nodded in agreement.

Alex smiled. "That's good for me. I wouldn't have wanted to marry some stranger anyway. I don't want a boring arranged marriage." She shrugged and finally returned her attention to him. "Are you hurt?"

"No I'm fine." Justin bit his bottom lip.

"Let me see your arm." Alex announced.

"Alex I'm-"

Before he could complete, Alex pulled up his sleeve and gasped as she saw the big bruise. "You need to fix it now. I'll get the first aid kit."

"No Alex." Justin grabbed her by the arm and stopped her. "Don't tell them about the incident." 

"Why not?" Alex raised an eyebrow in confusion. _(Seriously, he wasn't making any sense!)_

Justin looked down. "I think Adam has something to do with this."

Alex laughed. "Okay, I know he's been hiding something from us… but hiring a man to attack you? He'd never do that. He's not that kind of person."

Justin blinked a few times. Alex was actually talking nice things about Adam! "Okay, but please don't tell anyone. Mom will be worried."

Alex sighed. "Fine. But then fix it with magic."

Justin nodded and took out his wand.

****

"Why are we here again?" Alex asked Justin, checking her texts, as they stood in front of the locked room.

"To find out what's in there." Justin snapped, snatching the phone away from her. _(Seriously, wasn't she the one who wanted to open the locked room?)_

Alex glared at him in annoyance and snatched her phone back. "I think we already found out the secret of the letters."

"Yeah, but we still need to find out the secret of the photos." Justin pointed out as he grabbed one of the locks and looked at it.

Alex shrugged and smiled. "Fine then. Do your thing."

Justin nodded, taking out his wand from his boot. "_This mystery seems to defy logic, please help us solve it with magic_." He muttered.

Suddenly a light hit him and he jerked back, landing harshly on the floor of the terrace.

Alex quickly rushed up to him. "Justin, are you okay?"

Justin rubbed the back of his head as Alex helped him up. "Yeah, I'm fine." He then blinked at the door. "That door has a magical lock."

Alex took a step back in surprise. "But… but the smith's aren't wizards!"

Justin nodded in agreement. "Someone else locked it."

Alex gasped. "Who?" _(Seriously, couldn't all this mystery thingy just end?)_

Justin shrugged. "This is starting to creep me out now."

Suddenly Alex ran upto him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "Maybe it's better if we leave the mystery here." 

Justin nodded, turning around and returning the embrace. The wind blew some of her hair in his face, and suddenly that didn't seem like a bad idea.

*****

Two days passed like that. Justin and Alex simply enjoyed each other's company. Christmas was approaching. One evening, Theresa and Adam went out to buy the presents. Max, Justin and Alex were entrusted to the decoration.

Max decided to deck the Christmas tree. Justin and Alex took the decorations to the kitchen.

Alex simply opened the fridge, took out a carton of milk and some cookies, and started munching them.

"Alex, can you give me a hand?" Justin asked, irritated, as he had difficulties in hanging the mistletoe.

Alex shook her head. "Busy."

Justin glared at her. He finished hanging the mistletoe neatly and walked towards her. "Do you still sit around and do nothing?"

Alex shrugged.

"Doesn't Adam get mad at you?" Justin asked in surprise.

Alex shrugged again. "He tried to be strict at first, but after a few months he just gave up" she finished with a scoff.

"You are impossible." Justin shook his head and smiled.

"I know." Alex grinned back, as she headed back to the fridge to get more cookies.

"Alex, no, mom said we need to save some for tomorrow." Justin protested as he moved towards her.

Alex turned around to face him, ready for another round of bickering. "So?"

Justin shook his head in disbelief. "So. Stop. Eating. Them."

Alex smiled mischievously. "Since when do I listen to mom?"

"Alex you have to-"Justin paused mid-sentence as his face suddenly grew pale.

"Dude, you look like you've seen a ghost." Alex teased.

Justin gulped and pointed upwards.

Oh. The mistletoe.

Alex giggled nervously. "We are brother and sister…. It doesn't count for us right?"

"Yeah, sure." Justin let out a nervous laugh.

"So, you don't want to kiss me or something, right?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Ew, no." Justin looked around, refusing to meet her eye.

Alex leant in closer to his face. "Have you seen a ripe tomato Justin?"

"Yeah, why?" Justin asked as he placed a hand on her hip instinctively.

"Because you look just like that at this moment." Alex teased as she leant in closer and brushed their lips.

Justin gulped. "You need to make fun of me even in serious times like this?" he asked as he gave her bottom lip a quick peck.

"Yupe" Alex smiled against his lips. "It's hard to resist teasing you."

"And it's hard to resist kissing you…" Justin admitted as he finally captured her lips.

They broke apart when they suddenly heard a thumping noise in the terrace.

What the heck?

(A/N: I know no one is in mood for Christmas romance now, neither am I. But I couldn't resist the mistletoe kiss. LOL. Hope you like the blend of mystery and romance. More reviews=faster update.)

(Quick look at next chapter: A masked man tries to open the locked room! Who is he? A secret about Adam smith is revealed. Justin and Alex finally admit they like each other.)

_**(IMPORTANT: Please vote on the poll in my profile and tell me which Jalex story you'd like next. I plan on finishing this story fast, because honestly, this one is the worst thing I've ever written.)**_


	7. Ch 7: Secrets revealed,feelings unleased

(A/N: thanks to everyone who read! Thanks for all the 37 reviews/22 alerts/13 favorites. Enjoy! Read and review! This chapter is mainly mystery, but I think you'll still like it. There's jalex at the end though.)

Disclaimer: don't own a thing.

*****

Chapter 7: Secrets revealed, feelings unleashed

Alex and Justin quickly rushed up the stairs, leaving behind a much confused Max.

They found a masked man trying to climb down the stairs. "Stop, right now!" Justin yelled, wrapping his arms around Alex protectively.

The man pushed him back and ran past him down the stairs.

"Max!" Justin yelled in fear as he started chasing the masked man.

"Justin! Wait up!" Alex yelled behind him in fear and anticipation.

The rush down the stairs was intense, and adrenalin generating.

"That's it!" Justin finally exclaimed as he took out his wand. "_To solve the mystery I can't wait, please reveal this man's secret." _

When the spell was complete, the man's mask appeared in Justin's hands. He looked up at him in shock and horror. "DAD?!?"

Alex, shocked as well, quickly recollected herself. She put a hand on Justin's arm comfortingly, and then looked at her father. "Daddy, what are you doing?"

Jerry sighed. "I guess you would have found out sooner or later…."

"Found out what?" Justin demanded as he glared at his father.

Jerry sat down at a chair nearby. "I was trying to open the lock."

Justin gasped, unable to think about what to say. Alex filled in for him. "It's locked magically."

"I know." Jerry replied, looking at her. "I locked it."

Justin and Alex were stunned again. "You've been here before?" Justin asked in surprise.

Jerry nodded as Max finally spoke. "Can somebody tell me what's going on here?"

Justin glanced at him. "Not now Max, you need to go to your room now."

Max nodded reluctantly, seeing the anger in his brother's face, and headed upstairs.

Justin turned towards his father again. "I think there's something you need to tell us." he said calmly but sternly.

Alex gulped nervously. She had never seen her brother so angry before. She took hold of his hand to calm him down. Justin smiled at her in gratitude and relaxed a bit.

Jerry sighed again. "I know Adam for many years. We went to the same college."

Alex gasped, but jerry continued.

"In fact, we were best friends. We shared all our secrets…. We still do. One of our darkest secret is locked in that room… that room holds a part of our lives… I was trying to take back some things… but you guys don't need to know anything about that. In fact you don't need to know anything more." He completed sternly.

"What about these?" Justin challenged as he took out the photographs and held it out to his father.

Jerry blinked. "It's with you! Thank goodness! I thought Adam's men removed these along with the letters!" He sighed in relief.

Alex gasped again. So Adam was the one who removed the letters? He was the one who hired men to attack Justin?

Justin put the photo back in his pocket and gave Alex the 'I-told-you-so' look. "Do you mind telling me about this lady? What is she doing here with me?"

Jerry got up and looked at his son. "You don't need to know that… and you'll never know that… the magic key is with me. And you are not getting it." He declared coldly as he suddenly went towards the door and left the house.

Justin and Alex stood there dumb-founded for a few moments before Alex finally spoke up. "Come on. We got to get to max."

*****

"That's it?" max asked as his brother completed narrating the story.

Alex nodded.

"Guys, count me in." max smiled at them.

"Thanks max." Justin smiled in gratitude. "Let's get to work from 26th then?"

Max nodded. "**Maximan** is on it!"

*****

"Are you kids okay?" Theresa asked, surprised by the unusual silence.

"Yeah sure" Alex smiled, still thinking about the mystery and the kiss. Okay, mostly about the kiss. _(And maybe that was why she didn't shout when her mom called her a kid). _

"It's just that…. I miss dad!" max complained, as he looked up at Theresa with tear filled eyes.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry." Theresa consoled, as she shot a glare in Adam's direction. "Do you want to visit him after Christmas?"

Max nodded quickly.

Justin smiled. The plan was working out perfectly. Alex smiled too_. (But okay, she was thinking about something else, someone whose name started with 'J', to be more precise.)_

*****

There was a knock at Justin's door at midnight. He opened it to find Alex walk into his room. _(And when did Alex learn knocking?)_

"We need to talk." She declared as she sat on his bed.

"Alex, we've already discussed the plan." Justin protested as he locked his door.

"No, it's not that!" Alex shook her head. "We need to talk about what happened before that incident…. You know…. In the kitchen…."

"Oh." Justin blushed (_like a school girl with a crush_) as he settled down on the bed beside her. "Okay…"

Alex took a deep breath and began nervously. "Justin... I… ever since this divorce, I… we've grown really close… and when I moved to France, I realized I couldn't live without you….. I thought about you most of the time….. At first I thought these were just sisterly affections… but today… today I found out they have grown… it's more than that Justin…. I….. I love you…" Alex completed as she looked up at him in fear.

Justin sighed in defeat. "Me too." He looked back at her. "I know it's wrong Alex… but I love you…. I thought I'd never tell you but…. It's like we have a soul to soul connection… it's really hard to deny that…."

Alex smiled and cupped his face. "Then don't deny it." She pleaded as he pulled him into a tender kiss.

Justin kissed back for a moment before pulling away. "We need to find out what's in that room soon…. I have a feeling it'll change our lives…"

(A/N: sorry for the shortness of the chapter, but hey, a lot happened in here XD review for faster update. Next update on Friday if I cross 42 reviews LOL. I'm going on vacation yuppie.)

(BTW, I posted another Jalex one-shot. It's called Sugar. Check it out!)


	8. Chapter 8: Key to the heart

(A/N: thanks to everyone who read! Thanks for all the 42 reviews/alert/favorites. Enjoy! Read and review! This chapter is mainly mystery, but I think you'll still like it. There's jalex at the end though.)

Disclaimer: don't own a thing.

*****

Christmas finally came. The family had a blast in Christmas. The presents were great too.

Finally, it was time to get back to the mystery.

****

Jerry rushed to attend the door. He gasped when he saw Theresa, Max, Alex and Justin in front of him.

"Hi." Theresa smiled.

"Oh…hi…" jerry smiled back uncomfortably.

"I came by to drop the kids… they wanted to see their father…" Theresa explained.

"Okay." Jerry nodded, and before anyone could say anything more, Max ran up to him. "Dad, I miss you so much!"

Jerry smiled. "I miss you too buddy." He looked at Alex apologetically. Alex smiled with tear-filled eyes and ran up to join the hug. He then looked at Justin. Justin looked away and headed upstairs angrily.

"I'll pick them up after new year." Theresa finally completed.

Jerry nodded. "Thanks."

*****

"I'm not thinking about that day's event daddy." Alex reassured sweetly again.

"I know." Jerry smiled. "But Justin still seems to be mad at me." 

"You know Justin." Alex scoffed. "He has a habit of over-thinking. I knew you shouldn't have let him read so many books. See, this is what books do to you."

Jerry smiled, seeing that his little girl hadn't changed a bit. "Maybe you can talk to Justin?"

Alex shrugged. "Okay."

****

Alex entered Justin's room and slammed the door shut.

"Whoa! What happened to knocking?" Justin teased. _(Just when he thought she was becoming civilized!)_

Alex rolled her eyes. "Knocking left my dictionary the day I admitted I love you. Duh."

Justin smiled, suddenly feeling lovey-dovey. "Awww, come here."

He pulled Alex into a hug. Alex whined. "Justin, not now, I wanted to talk to you."

"Shhh-"Justin cut her off with a kiss.

Okay, so maybe talking can wait.

After two minutes of tongue action, they pulled apart for lack of air. "What were you saying?" Justin asked.

"We need to talk." Alex announced as she sank down in his bed and started touching his action figures.

Justin slapped her hands away quickly. "I'm listening. And talking doesn't involve touching my action figures, does it?"

Alex rolled her eyes, straightened up a bit and looked at him. "Justin, you really don't need to be so cold towards dad."

Justin sighed and sat down beside her. "I know... it's just that…. I don't like him keeping secrets from us… I have a feeling I need to know this…"

Alex placed a hand over his and smiled. "I know. Our plan is working, don't worry. I want to find out the secrets just as much as you do... but what I'm trying to say is, just because dad is hiding something doesn't mean you need to be so rude to him all the time."

Justin blinked for a few minutes.

"What?" Alex scoffed. "Gosh, staring is rude."

Justin smiled. "You're talking like a mature woman."

Alex rolled her eyes.

Justin sighed. "There's something else I wanted to talk about…."

"Yeah?" Alex asked. "What is it?"

Justin looked down at the floor and frowned. "Have you thought about our future?"

"What about our future?" Alex sneered.

Justin looked at her. "We can't live like this forever… you're my sister.. Someday-"

Alex help up a hand and stopped him. "See, this is the problem with you. You have a habit of over-thinking for everything…. Just do what I do. Live in the moment. Enjoy the present. Things will work themselves out for the future..."

Justin protested. "Alex, this is way more serious."

Alex rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I know. But as long as I'm with you… I don't care."

*****

"It's not in the lair." Max announced walking into Justin's room.

"It's not in the store room either." Alex pointed out.

"Then there's only one more place I can think of." Justin rubbed his temple with his hands, suddenly feeling frustrated. "It's in dad's room."

"So?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "Cant you get it from there magically?"

Justin nodded in acknowledgement. "I can... but we'll need a distraction."

Alex and Justin quickly turned their gaze towards Max.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?" max asked confused. Finally it dawned into him. "Oh, I get it. I'm the distraction, right?"

Alex and Justin nodded in unison and smiled.

*****

"Come on dad. You taught Justin and Alex. You've gotta teach me." Max persuaded as he placed the magic flying carpet in the terrace. "Please." He pleaded.

"All right, fine." Jerry sighed, finally giving in.

And in ten minutes, they were gone, flying through the clouds.

"Maybe you can take me out on a magic carpet date." Alex said to Justin, still looking at the sky.

Justin stared at her in disbelief. (_Seriously, she's thinking about a date when they are solving the mystery? She would have been the worst assistant to a detective ever_). "Come on, we've got to get the key now. We don't have all day."

****

Justin groaned in frustration. "It's gotta be here somewhere."

"Justin." Alex called his name as she pulled out an old magic manuscript from the drawer.

Justin ran up there and read out loud.

"_The people, who are in love and are smart,_

_Can only find the key to the heart."_

Justin stared for a few moments, before groaning in frustration again. "I don't understand. What does it mean? Why does it say key to the heart? It's just a room."

Alex blinked for a moment, suddenly recalling something. "Justin! I get it!"

"What?" Justin asked in surprise.

"I know what it means. What's the key to a person's heart?"

Justin thought for a moment. "Umm…love?"

"Exactly." Alex smiled.

"So?" Justin asked, still not understanding what Alex wanted to say.

"We need cupid's love arrow to open the door." Alex finally announced.

Justin stood there for a moment, before smiling. "I think you're right. Come on, let's get cupid."

*****

New Year's evening was a lot of fun. The three siblings had a lot of fun with their father.

It was almost 12 at night when Justin walked into Alex's room.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hey." Alex smiled back.

"Packed your things?" Justin asked, suddenly feeling disappointed again. They had become so accustomed to living together again; the pain was going to be so hard to bear.

"Yupe." Alex replied, sighing. "Our flight is tomorrow morning at 7."

Justin nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll miss you…"

Alex smiled. "I'll miss you too... But hey, you can still see me every day with the help of IPP!"

Justin smiled back. "Yeah... I can. And I will… but it won't be the same…"

Alex sighed, looking at the clock. "Hey, you know… I heard its good luck to kiss on New Year's night."

Justin snorted, but leaned in to her. Alex cupped his face and caressed his lips softly.

"I still don't think it's a good idea to let you open the door alone." Justin whispered against her lips.

Alex whined. "Justin, you've said it before. And I'm telling you again-"she said between kisses. "I can take care of it. You need to stay here with Dad."

Justin sighed. "Just take care, okay?"

Alex nodded, nibbling at his bottom lip. "I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Stay with me tonight?" Justin whispered.

"Duh." Alex rolled her eyes.

(A/N: I'm finally back from vacation. Phew! The mystery is finally going to be unleashed. Two more chapters left :( review for faster update.)


	9. Chapter 9: Shocking revelations

(A/N: I know my quality of writing hasn't been good recently. So I rewrote this entire chapter to make it better. This is how my adoption story is going to be. Call it a free trail? LOL. Please review and let me know if you like this.)

Disclaimer: don't own anyone except Adam smith and the mystery lady :P

*****

It was midnight when Alex reached the locked room, holding the arrow in her left hand. Her heart was beating at a rapid rate, and sweat was sticking to her forehead. She took a deep breath. This was it.

Her hands shook as she looked at the arrow again. This was the key to the mystery. Everything would be clear in a few seconds. But what if things went wrong? What if it just made things worse? 

Alex took another deep breath, and finally took the courage to insert the key in one of the locks. There was a great flash of light that forced Alex to shut her eyes. When she opened them again, the door was open, right in front of her.

She walked into the room, her legs trembling with fear and excitement, and looked around. It was an old room, much like their storage room at the Russo household, with junk lying everywhere. Alex didn't know where to start looking. (_And maybe it was indeed a good idea to bring Justin with her.) _ She looked at the walls, and there were dozens of old pictures. She blinked when she caught sight of one particular picture- a picture of Jerry, Theresa, Adam, that lady in those pictures, and baby Justin! She walked upto the wall, still staring at the portrait, and bumped into something on her way. What the heck? 

Alex looked down at her feet and saw a file containing documents. She picked it up, dusting it and coughing. (_Maybe Justin is right about keeping stuff clean and dust free…whatever.) _ She opened the first document and found things written in tiny fonts. (_Is she supposed to read all this?) _

She quickly grabbed her cell phone from her jeans pocket (_And this is why you should wear jeans instead of stupid skirts and dresses, thank you) _and dialed Justin's number. 

"What happened? Are you all right? Did you get into trouble? Alex! Say something!" Justin said in one breath as soon as he answered the call.

"I would, if you let me speak." Alex snarled back. "I'm fine. I found some stupid documents. Meet me in my room in 5 minutes."

*****

Alex watched Justin as he went through the documents and gasped every now and then.

"Oh come on Justin!" Alex whined. "Tell me what's going on already! Seeing you read stupid old documents as if they were steamy gossips. It's so boring!"

Justin stared at her for a moment, then glared at her for a few seconds, and finally returned his attention to the documents. "Why don't you quit whining and start helping me instead?" he snapped, reading another document.

"Newsflash. I don't read." Alex snapped back. "I don't have an intention of becoming a-" she paused mid sentence as Justin suddenly stood up. "Justin?" she whispered in a nervous voice.

Justin didn't reply, he just left the room angrily and stormed to Theresa and Adam's room.

"Justin! Wait!" Alex called, running after him. "Justin, stop!" Alex pleaded as he banged on the door.

After a few minutes of door banging and yelling, Theresa and Adam finally opened the door.

"What's going on, Alex? Are you all right?" Adam asked in a concerned tone, looking at a very distressed Alex. He then turned his gaze to Justin, standing mere inches away from her, looking strangely furious. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night? And why are you with Alex?" he asked in a cold and frightening voice that made even Alex shudder, but Justin didn't even flinch an inch.

"I think finding out what I am doing here at the middle of the night with Alex shouldn't be your priority now. I think you're the one who needs to answer us. You're the one who need to tell us about this." Justin growled, holding the documents in front of Adam's face. "Any explanation?"

Adam's eyes widened when he looked at the documents. He exchanged a nervous glance with Theresa and finally looked back at Justin. "How did you find this?" he asked, his voice clearly showing his fear.

"I want answers." Justin replied calmly, but in a very stern voice that even scared Alex.

"What's going on?" Alex finally managed to ask.

"What's going on is that they have been lying to us our entire lives." Justin shouted, finally unable to keep his cool. "This lady over here is not my mother." He said, pointing at Theresa in an accusing manner. "This guy standing here is your father Alex." He continued, his voice dripping with hatred and fury. "And you? You're not even my sister." 

Alex retreated back a few steps, until her back touched the wall. She rested her back on the wall for support, because suddenly she was feeling really weak. Something shifted somewhere and everything made sense, but at the same time, something else shifted somewhere and nothing made sense to her.

"Alex?" Justin whispered, feeling a bit scared to see the vulnerable girl in front of him. Her eyes were blank, her face was expressionless, her body was still- it was like she still couldn't understand what was going on.

"Why?" Alex finally asked, still looking in front of her yet comprehending nothing.

"What?" Justin asked, feeling more scared this time, and moved a bit so he could take Alex's hand in his.

"Why did you lie to us?" Alex shouted, yanking her hand out of Justin's grasp, and stomping her feet on the ground. "WHY? WHY? WHY?"

"Alex, calm down." Theresa tried to soothe her, placing a hand on her arm.

"Don't touch me!" Alex yelled, stepping back and away from her. "You lied to me! and I trusted you my entire life and…. And… Justin.. He's not my brother… and we… ugh! I hate you!" she yelled again as tears started to flow down her cheeks.

"We are sorry." Theresa whispered, looking at Alex and then at Justin.

"I don't wanna hear apologies." Justin stated. "I want answers." 

Adam nodded, placing a hand on Theresa's shoulder. "Let me call up Jerry first."

*******

"I was married to Jane…" Jerry announced, looking nervously at Justin who was standing at the window, looking outside.

"Who's Jane?" Alex asked, standing beside Justin and ruffling his hair in an affectionate manner. "Have you been using hair gel?" she asked in a teasing tone.

Justin turned a bit to face her and fixed her with a deadly glare.

"Okay, I shouldn't be teasing you now, right." Alex mumbled, taking her hand away.

"Jane is that lady in the picture." Justin acknowledged, this time fixing jerry with a glare. "And she's my real mother."

Alex gasped. "What? Why didn't you tell us about her? Where is she?"

"She's dead. She died from cancer when I was an infant." Justin replied in a frighteningly accusing voice. "And nobody even bothered to tell me about her."

"Justin, I'm sorry." Jerry apologized. "But I promised your mom that you'll never feel like you don't have your real mother." 

"Which is why you married her, right?" Justin asked, pointing towards Theresa distastefully. "And she brought me up like a real mother…like her real son…" he whispered, his voice finally cracking, and love and affection returning to them.

Alex panicked. Justin was swinging between love and hatred, this can't be good.

"Justin-" she tried reasoning, but Justin shushed her with a wave of his hand and continued his ranting. "She adopted me… and brought me up with Alex… my sister… but not my real sister…." he sobbed, feeling caught in a maze that he could never get out of. "You destroyed our lives by adopting me."

"W-what do you mean?" Theresa stuttered, moving closer to Adam in fear.

Justin didn't reply. He continued. "My mother wanted me to marry Alex. And you promised that to her, didn't you?" he shouted, glaring at Theresa.

"It's not like that." Jerry protested. "It was because of a stupid magical fortune-teller. Jane had him look into his crystal ball. And he said that you would fall in love with Alex… that was the only reason Jane wanted the marriage. But when I adopted Alex, and Theresa adopted you, that wasn't possible. You wouldn't fall in love with your sister. That's ridiculous."

"No it isn't." Justin snapped. "If you had taken magic a bit more seriously dad, you would have known. Fortune tellers are never wrong. I _am_ in love with Alex. And now we can't marry because you adopted us! You destroyed our lives!" Justin groaned and sank into the ground.

The room was silent, with the three elders trying to process what Justin had just confessed. Alex sat down beside him and placed a comforting hand on his knee.

"You…you want to marry each other?" Adam finally managed to ask.

"Yes." Justin replied, in the most determined voice, and Alex only managed to nod, looking at Adam with fear in her tear-filled eyes.

Alex panicked when Adam didn't respond. What if he got mad? What if he tore them apart? "Dad?" she asked in an apprehensive tone.

"I'm a lawyer." Adam stated.

"So?" Justin snapped. "What does that have anything to do with this?"

Adam sighed and walked up to them. "I can help you. We can find a legal way." he declared.

"What!" Theresa cried, wiping the few tears that had managed to escape from her eyes. "You mean you support them?"

"She's my daughter Theresa. I want her to be happy." Adam replied, running a hand through Alex's hair in a loving fatherly manner.

"Then why were you so strict with me earlier?" Alex whispered, running into her father's arms and finally accepting him as her real father.

"I wanted the best for you." Adam whispered back. "I adopted you back from Jerry and tried to mould you properly. You required that discipline."

"So that's why I don't have my magic anymore…" Alex finally comprehended. "My parents are mortal."

Jerry sighed and got up from his seat. "I don't have any problem with them marrying either. Theresa?"

Theresa looked at Justin, and finally their eyes locked.

"Mom?" Justin asked in a fearful and hopeful voice.

Theresa closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Fine…. But you two will have to explain this to Max, your little brother. We're not doing that…"

"About that," Alex said, pulling away from her father and straightening up a bit, "is he my brother or Justin's?"

"Both." Theresa replied. "he's my and Jerry's son."

Justin groaned again. "How do we tell him?"

"We tell him that we're marrying each other and he gets the family magic." Alex snapped at Justin and got up. "You'd have to give up your powers when you marry me. This is okay, really. Magic is such a waste with you anyway."

Justin smiled at her. "You're right. It's Max. It's gonna be that simple."

Alex smiled back at him and looked at the three other people in the room. "So…?" she trailed off.

"So?" Jerry asked, looking at her.

"Everything's settled right?" Alex asked, glancing at the clock and yawning dramatically. "Well then, I'm going back to bed. Later!"

"Alex!" Justin snapped and grabbed her arm. "This is serious. You need to talk and sort things out."

"Talking is exhausting." Alex snarled. "Besides, I sorted out everything I needed to. So.. later!"

Justin sighed and looked at Jerry. "I want to know more about my mom." 

Jerry nodded and motioned for him to sit down.

Justin looked at Alex. "Okay then…goodnight…we'll talk things out in the morning."

"Okay." Alex replied quickly and ran off into her room, deciding it was best not to place a kiss on him at that tensed moment.

Justin smiled at Theresa. "You need some rest too…mom… and I'm sorry for being so rude…to all of you."

Theresa nodded in understanding. "It's okay…and remember, you're still my son. And I love you no matter what."

Justin smiled at her again and turned to Jerry. "So.. tell me about my mom…"

*****

(Okay, the mystery is done. Only one chapter left. And then I'll move on to my best stories. *phew* _**Please review**_!)

(BTW, I posted a new one-shot called "Because you're sick." I think you'll like it if you like meaningful stuff.)

(To the anonymous reviewers: If you don't login, I don't have a way to get back to you, so I'm just saying this here to all of you: Thank you for the support :) and Jayendra, you're the only Indian person I know who likes jalex LOL)


	10. Chapter 10: My soulmate

(A/N: last chapter :( thanks for your support guys :) And don't worry, I'm absolutely fine with anonymous reviews. Sorry to those who were disappointed. **_AUTHOR NOTES AT THE BOTTOM)_**

Disclaimer: don't own it.

*****

**Chapter 10: My soul mate**

"So, do you wanna talk?" Justin asked Alex as he joined her in the terrace in the morning, in front of the recently unlocked room.

Alex whined. "Do I have to?"

Justin nodded.

"Okay… so, what happens from here?" Alex asked, looking at the clear blue sky and the white floating clouds, while eating the cup-cake she grabbed from the breakfast table.

"Well, I have been reading my mom's journal, and I'm going to visit my real grand-parents next month…" Justin paused, and looked at Alex, smiling. "And then I'm planning on shifting to France."

Pause. Rewind.

_"I'm planning on shifting to France."_

Alex blinked for a few moments before finally smiling. "At least get a decent apartment. I'll move in next year."

Pause. Rewind.

_"I'll move in next year."_

Justin blinked for a few moments before finally smiling. "Thank you, my sweet soul mate."

"Ew!" Alex scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Justin, that's just too cheesy. Don't ever say that again." She glared.

Justin smiled. "As you wish, my dear soul mate."

Alex glared at him again, contemplating whether to punch him in that pretty face or throw him off the terrace. Then she got an idea when she looked at his shirt. She wiped her mouth with the corner of his TOB shirt.

"ALEX!" Justin shrieked. Alex smiled.

*****

_Alex remembered the lovely days, while smiling absent-mindedly and playing with her wedding ring in her finger._

"_Day dreaming again?" Justin teased as he entered the room._

"_Shopping for geek stuff again?" Alex teased back. _

"_I told you I went to get break-fast. Didn't you read the note?" Justin asked as he handed her the sandwich. But suddenly he took his hand back. Alex raised an eyebrow. "Brush your teeth first." Justin stated. _

_And Alex remembered again why she didn't want to marry a dork. _

_(But okay, maybe he's not asking her to brush for breakfast…..)_

_Alex licked her lips, nodded and smiled. She returned after brushing her teeth._

_Justin quickly pulled her in for a kiss._

_Alex smiled. "Your TOB Shirt thingy is in my 'Justin's favorite things' box under our bed."_

(A/N: the end. I know the last chapter is very short. But hey, less is more XD + This is my worst writing ever, even I'm ashamed of this :P anyways review please!)

*****

**(IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm officially starting the two new chapter fics together. Watch out for the prologues, they will be posted soon. The angst/emotional story is being called "Dollhouse." I've planned 18 chs so far. Read it for a good reading experience. The adoption story is called "Something greater." I've planned 17 chs so far. Read it to feel better after a tiring day. And I can guarantee you one thing: They are better than this story.**)


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